Key leaders in the meetings sector and stakeholders from across Dubai recently shared their experiences of restarting business events over the last six months at the Dubai Global Events Re-Opening Forum organized on 18 March.
The Forum featured leaders from Dubai Tourism, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), Dubai Airports, Emirates, dmg events and Accor. UFI and ICCA supported the event, with their global membership primed to benefit from the knowledge shared.
Since the official resumption of local events in September 2020 in the emirate, followed by international events on 1 October, Dubai has played host to a number of major trade shows and exhibitions, including Gitex Technology Week and Gulfood – making it the only city in the world to successfully host two large scale international events in the last three months, each recording more than 50,000 attendees from more than 100 countries.
According to independent research commissioned by DWTC, conducted by GRS Explori, a research company for exhibitions, visitor attractions and large events and research partners of UFI, Dubai scored extremely highly in key safety and satisfaction ratings:
- 96-98% of attendees consistently rated these events as providing a safe or very safe experience
- 92% of attendees (both exhibitors and visitors) rated Dubai as offering the best experience in the world owing to its high safety standards, access to business opportunities and overall business experience
- 89% considered Dubai as “the safest destination in the world”
- Over 90% of attendees felt safe consistently across their journey – travelling on Emirates (90%), arrival and departure at Dubai Airport (94%), using local transportation (96%) and their accommodation (96%)
Dubai also played host to a number of association conferences and congresses such as the Arab Association of Urology Annual Congress and MEIDAM Conference, and a strong pipeline of future events has already been confirmed.